A Second Chance
by the original killerpineapple
Summary: LMSS Narcissa finds out about Lucius and Snape so she kills her husband. Harry arrives with a notquitelegal answer to Snapes woes. Completed. Rated M just in case.
1. The forbidden

Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns all Harry Potter characters although I think she should have them all confiscated because she doesn't value them as much as she should.

Chapter 1: The Forbidden 

1.

Lucius stalked out of Dumbledores office after a surprisingly (considering their past encounters) civil meeting to discuss, of course, his sons well being.

He had walked for perhaps ten minutes before realising that he'd turned away from the main entrance and was walking, rather more briskly than usual, towards the dungeons, towards Snape.

On arriving at Hogwarts he'd had no intention of even clapping eyes on Severus, but he'd known that the encounter was inevitable, although he refused to admit it. He also knew what would happen once he was there and his stomach was gripped with guilt as images of his wife swam before his silvery eyes.

2.

Snape stood and leaned lethargically against his desk, his hands somehow resting amid the organised chaos without knocking anything to the floor.

Lucius was surprised. He didn't know what he'd expected( Snape refusing to talk to him? Snape shouting at him? Death upon entering?) But it wasn't the strange smile that currently rested on his lips. The smile was pleasant enough, but his eyes glittered with scorn. Despite the look of contempt Lucius couldn't help but think (the type of thought you'd never voice or even admit to yourself that you'd had) _'Narcissa is pretty: Snape is beautiful.'_

"Why thank you Lucius. If I'm so devastatingly handsome then why haven't I seen you in two months?" Snape retorted sardonically, making Lucius flinch and blush furiously.

"It's not easy, Severus. I've got my wife to think about."

"Ah yes, your wife. How is she? Still draining you of your soul?" Lucius was used to this bitter tone, the sarcasm in his voice masking his pain.

"I should be with Narcissa." Lucius rose to leave and had almost reached the door when Snape spoke again, this time the irony banished.

"Lucius." He made no reply but turned around, his hand still on the doorknob. "Where do you want to be?" Snape had moved closer.

"I should be with…"

"That wasn't my question. Where do you _want_ to be?" Lucius dropped the doorknob and stepped closer to Severus, his arms snaring his waist and banging their hips together, his hands resting on the small of Snapes back. Snapes fngers entwined in Lucius' silky hair as he softly kissed his warm lips and his other hand worked it's way under Lucius' shirt, his wizard clothes left at home due to the summer heat.

Lucius wanted Severus more than he'd ever wanted Narcissa, more, even, than on their much-approved-of wedding day when he'd still loved her.

Snape didn't need to be a mind reader to know _that_.

3.

Seveus smiled in contentment, reassured that Lucius cared for him as much as he cared for Lucius. Lucius didn't know how he'd ever thought of him and Snape as anything but perfect, and all thoughts of wrongness were eradicated.

Lucius' head lay on Severus' bare chest, his breath on the smooth, soft skin causing Severus to giggle occasionally. Lucius' finger absently traced circles on Severus' shoulder and his surprisingly clean hair smelled of coconut. Severus' fingers idly twirling Lucius' hair made his angry at Narcissa for unknowingly causing him to feel guilty about something which now felt so right. The Dark Mark on both of their pale arms linked them together, an ugly scar from an uglier past.

"I better go." Lucius rose reluctantly into a sitting position and reached for his clothes. Snape sat too and kissed Lucius between the shoulder blades.

"Don't wait too long before you next come to see me, ok?" It wasn't really a question but if it were up to Lucius he would never leave.

"I'll try, but I think Narcissa's getting suspicious." Snape rolled onto his back and crossed his hands on his stomach.

"Why don't you leave her? You don't love her anymore and she never loved you." Lucius sighed as he ticked in his shirt, now standing.

"I will one day. Just be patient."

"Ok." Lucius leant to kiss Severus for the final time and was gone.

4.

Snape was still lying in bed when he heard the sharp crack and Lucius' scream before a soft thump signalled the loss of his best friend and lover and the adoration and passion that they'd shared.

As Lucius died the dark mark on Severus' arm silently screamed and made him writhe in agony.

He pulled on is robe and ran towards the main entrance, his bare feet slapping on the cold stone floor, and it hurt even more knowing-even before he saw Lucius, lying at an awkward angle at the stairs, his silken hair matted with blood, and Narcissa Malfoy stranding over him, her wand drawn and a steely look glazing her eyes- that Lucius Malfoy was dead…

If you liked please review. 'Tisn't finished yet.


	2. A second chance

Disclaimer: I own nothing yada yada yada.

Chapter 2: A Second Chance.

1.

Snape sat in his office, unshaven and jumping at small noises, as he'd been for three days now. He'd allowed his hair to become greasy again and was still wearing the clothes he'd been wearing on 'that day', although he'd put on his shoes (one was black and the other a dull brown) to avoid stepping in glass after he'd smashed everything he could reach from the centre of his office. He was dimly aware that he hadn't eaten since lunch on 'that day', which he'd thrown up anyway, and didn't care.

He'd barricaded the door when he had gotten sick of constant interruptions fr5om staff-"Are you ok?" ,"How are you?", Can I get you anything?"- and they'd seemed to understand. No, of course they didn't understand. Didn't understand that he wasn't o-fucking-k, his life had just officially ended and he wanted to go up onto the astronomy tower and shout every obscenity he'd ever heard at the bitch who'd caused it. But that wouldn't be enough. Nowhere near enough.

The wall between him and the living world being blown apart interrupted his rambling, confused thoughts.

2. 

Harry stood in front of Snape and the question Ron had asked him was answered.

"Why do you wanna help that greasy git? He knows Narcissa. How could he think he would get away with screwing her husband?"

Harry would help him because he pitied Snape and hated Narcissa Malfoy just as much for depriving Draco of his father.

He knew how it felt.

"What do you want, Potter?" He sounded tired and Harry wondered when he'd slept last.

"I want to help you." For a fleeting moment Snape looked hopeful, but then he turned his back again and said, in a tone usually reserved for those on death row, "It's too late." Harry's heart bled at the sound of resignation where there was normally sarcasm and strength that he hated yet admired.

"No it isn't professor. I can bring him back to life."

Snape raised his head.

3.

"It's quite a simple procedure. I found it in a book. It's ancient magic but it still works. Lucius would be slightly different, but he'd be alive. And no one need ever know…" Snape stood and turned abruptly. When he turned Harry saw anger clearly etched in his solemn features.

"He's DEAD! The dead should remain in their graves, and they do! There's no way to bring him back, so GET THE HELL OUT OF MY OFFICE!"

Harry was a little startled by this outburst, and Snape noticed, but now it was his turn to shock Snape. The final act, the end of a magic trick, "Bravo! Encore!"

"Come in!" Snape looked furious at Harry inviting someone into _his _office but his anger gave way to fear and alarm as Sirius Black walked through the door.

4.

Snape stepped back and his hip jarred painfully against the desk.

"NO! No,no,no,no! You're dead! You've been dead for over a year!" Despite Snapes obvious disgust Harry looked smug.

"See. I told you I could do it. He's a little different, but it's still Sirius."

Sirius was different. In fact Snape thought he was more horror movie extra than human. He could imagine him-him? No, it- climbing out of it's crumbling grave and hobbling along with the other stiffs, arms outstretched and a terrible groaning rising from its dirt-clogged throat.

Nothing could have prepared Snape for the creature that stepped from the shadows into the dim light.

Sirius looked just as dangerous than ever, but in a mindless way rather than the wild way he once was, and his steps were slow, as if they pained him, but you needed to be alive to feel pain surely. His skin looked moth eaten in places, his left cheek being the worst, and his empty red eye sockets, the end of a severed vein hanging grimly from where his eye had once been and brushing one mottled cheek, made his stomach turn.

With a jolt Snape realised that Sirius wasn'6t breathing. He was no more than a walking corpse.

"Harry, you have no idea what you are doing. You're fifteen for Christ's sake, you shouldn't be dabbling in this sort of magic."

Harry remained firm.

"The question's simple. Do you want Lucius back, or not?" With that Harry left Snape to make a decision that would, either way, ruin his life.

5.

Snape couldn't believe that he was actually considering Potters outrageous proposal.

_You can't do it, Severus, it's not natural._

_Neither was Lucius' death._

The image of Lucius' sprawled body, his shattered skull, floated in front of Severus' face so clearly that for one rationality starved moment he could reach out and squash it and it would be gone, just a bad dream. And the blood! On the stairs, the floor, Narcissa's half crazed face, everywhere- dark, thick, oozing from the crack in Lucius' head.

_Stop it! You couldn't help!_

_But I can help now._

_No you can't. It would be the opposite of helping._

_If it doesn't work out well I can just kill him again._

_Could you? Could you kill Lucius? Even thinking about it hurts. Even if you were emotionally able, he could kill you first._

_Lucius would never hurt me!_

_IT ISN'T LUCIUS! You saw Sirius. Do you want to see Lucius like that?_

"GOD DAMMIT I WANT HIM BACK! I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES!"

The rational voice spoke again (_You're not stable enough to make a decision like this_) but the now controlling voice had cut him off.

6.

Harry heard Snape coming and smiled.

"Hello professor. Thought it over?"

Snape looked like he was thinking, but he was just pushing back the reasons not to bring Lucius back, of which there were many.

"I want him back." And with those four words he condemned himself to death.

Please review I have one more chapter left. Moony please don't hate me. I want some more ice cream!


	3. No Way Out

Disclaimer: I own nothing etc.

Chapter 3: No Way Out 

1.

Snape stumbled through the Forbidden Forest, his disgust at the previous two hours rising above the stinging sensation on his arms and face as branches tried to claw him back. His fingernails were jagged and ripped, there was dirt on his hands and his robes were torn. His legs shook below him. In fact his whole body was shaking, partially because of the sprint through the forest, but mostly with horror at what he finally realised he'd done.

As he got to the border of trees he bent almost double and retched violently, clutching his aching ribs. Of course nothing came out. Why would it when he hadn't eaten in four days?

He was overcome with a sudden sense of urgency and resumed running to the castle, trying to put as much distance between him and what he wasn't even sure he'd created.

2.

Sitting in his office, his composure regained, Snape couldn't remember exactly what had happened.

He remembered digging up Lucius' corpse- how could he forget? It hadn't looked as bad as he'd expected, but nowhere near as good as he'd hoped. Although the funeral director had tried his best to make him look as natural as possible, there was still the gaping hole in the back of his head and his beautiful silver hair was dyed slightly pink from the blood, or was this just Snapes fevered imagination? No, it wasn't. That would be too much to hope for. Why was it that blood always stained? Why doesn't it just wash off?

By the time they'd finished digging him up, his white and gold robes had been stained with mud and small drops of blood from Snape and Harry's fingers. As Snape had carried him into the forest-"We need somewhere we won't be disturbed"- he noticed the stench of death on Lucius, hidden under the sweet scents of oils and the lilies that had seemed to dominate the funeral Snape hadn't attended. He also noticed how heavy Lucius was. How hadn't he noticed this before? It was as if death had made him more cumbersome.

When he tried to think of the events after that he got a flurry of disorientated pictures- a slain unicorn, a trickle of silver blood running from its neck, a circle of charcoal slabs, Harry building a fire.

Snape heard a shuffling behind him and sat up stiffly. He knew who it was before he heard the rattling voice issued through a dirt-clogged throat, before he felt the cold, bloody hard on his shoulder, before he turned around to meet the red, empty sockets of a demon he'd hoped never to meet.

3.

As Snape fitted the rope around a beam in the Malfoy house, his intentions surprising himself more than anyone, he was soothed by the screams of Narcissa Malfoy as her husband greeted her. He'd been dead. She knew he had been! She'd killed him for fucks sake. Even if she had managed to convince herself that she _hadn't _killed him, his new appearance would confirm it.

It closed its hands around Narcissa's throat, the fit as snug as the noose around Severus' neck, and steadily applied pressure. Narcissa clawed at it as she stopped breathing and chunks of skin and flesh came away under her pointed nails, but it didn't notice. It glared down onto her purpling face with its empty sockets and Narcissa knew she wouldn't win this fight.

Downstairs, Severus smiled as the screams died down and he lost the ability to read her thoughts. He thought '_at last I can die in peace' _and laughed at the statement. Was this peace? Hanging yourself while listening to your deceased lover killing his wife? He doubted that very much, but it was the most peace he was likely to get after bringing Lucius back to life. Severus wept as he died, knowing that the cause of his death was the man he'd lived for.

Fin 

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease review. I'd be really happy!


End file.
